Last of 3 Schaumburg ex-cops charged in drug case out on bond

Judge refuses to raise bail for man accused of leading ring

February 21, 2013|By Clifford Ward, Special to the Tribune

Terrance O'Brien uses a bag to shield himself from cameras Wednesday as he leaves DuPage County Jail after posting bond. He is one of three former Schaumburg police officers charged in a drug case. (Chuck Berman, Chicago Tribune)

A former Schaumburg police officer accused of running a drug ring was freed from jail Wednesday after a DuPage County judge rejected a bid to increase his bail.

Terrance O'Brien and two other ex-officers were arrested in mid-January on charges that they were buying and selling illegal drugs and were using their police powers to facilitate their operation. O'Brien was the last of the three to bond out of jail.

Judge Blanche Hill Fawell stuck with the order she made in late January, requiring O'Brien to post $30,000 to gain his release. After his arrest, his bail initially was set at $750,000 full cash.

O'Brien's attorney, Robert Irsuto, had previously told the judge that O'Brien had the support of his wife and could expect to live at home. But prosecutors learned that his wife had filed for divorce shortly after O'Brien's arrest, prompting their request that the bail be reset at $750,000.

But Irsuto said the ex-officer could live with his mother in Hoffman Estates. She was one of about a dozen friends and family members at the hearing.

His brother, Patrick, testified that he would be willing to post the necessary money for bond.

During previous hearings, it was disclosed that O'Brien is the father of a teenage girl with his longtime mistress, who is also charged in connection with the drug-ring case.

Irsuto called the situation between O'Brien and his wife something that would have to be worked through.

"If she doesn't want him to return home, that's something he respects," Irsuto said after the hearing.

Fawell told O'Brien that he would be required to wear a GPS unit and would be barred from leaving the state. He was also barred from contacting John Cichy and Matthew Hudak, the two other officers charged in the case.

The village of Schaumburg announced this week that it had contracted with an outside agency to review its Police Department in the wake of the scandal. The three officers resigned after their arrests.